{"id":623,"date":"2017-12-03T17:12:39","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T22:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newleafdesigns.biz\/thoughts\/?p=623"},"modified":"2019-03-18T20:37:20","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T20:37:20","slug":"happy-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newleafdesigns.biz\/thoughts\/happy-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Happy Advent!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many of us are getting ready for Christmas, decorating, shopping, baking, mailing out cards and gifts. Christmas has come to have a variety of meanings. To some it\u2019s a special day to get together with family and friends, to some it\u2019s a stressful time bringing up memories of bad relationships, to some it\u2019s one of the loneliest times of the year, for others it\u2019s a great opportunity to throw a party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Old<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some think of Santa and the magical times of childhood wonder. To others Santa\u2019s a great way to make children behave. I actually heard a store clerk the other day telling a small toddler that had been crying that Santa didn\u2019t like bad boys, didn\u2019t bring gifts to them. And then we have the ever-popular elf on a shelf, always watching to make sure you\u2019re behaving so Santa will know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some spend the holidays searching for the \u2018perfect\u2019 gift for their loved ones, for their family and for friends. Some enjoy the crowds, the music, the festivities, the holiday cheer that abounds all around. While others bemoan the lines, the crowds, the spending, the avarice and greed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to some of us, Christmas is more\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> ~ Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To some of us Christmas is so much more\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to celebrate certain feast as times of remembrance of the things He had done for them. To a Christian, Christmas is one of those times to remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Christmas season, during Advent, we remember God\u2019s promises, we remember the prophecies found in the Old Testament telling of the coming Messiah, the coming Savior. We remember Mary and Joseph; we remember Bethlehem and the Baby born there in the manger; we remember the Angels proclaiming to the Shepherds the good news, the birth of our Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.\u201d<\/em> ~ Luke 2:10 & 11<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May Christmas be so much more to you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily scripture reading for Advent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Advent! Many of us are getting ready for Christmas, decorating, shopping, baking, mailing out cards and gifts. Christmas has come to have a variety of meanings. To some it\u2019s a special day to get together with family and friends, to some it\u2019s a stressful time bringing up memories of bad relationships, to some it\u2019s … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Happy Advent”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Happy Advent","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[129,3],"tags":[14,33,71],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","category-christian-encouragement","tag-advent","tag-christmas","tag-holidays"],"yoast_head":"\nHappy Advent - Thoughts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Happy Advent! 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